A triple change after 45 minutes of Premier League football is usually the sign of a desperate manager, but Nuno Espirito Santo cared little about optics when hauling off West Ham United trio Kyle Walker-Peters, Ollie Scarles and Mateus Fernandes.
On an evening of dreadful defending and some rather strange selections from the man chosen to lift the Hammers out of the mire, at least Nuno Espirito Santo knew that it could not continue.
The bad news, though, was that even a triple sub after 45 minutes could not turn the tide.
Ollie Scarles, Kyle Walker-Peters and Mateus Fernandes all made way at the interval. While switching from a back four to a back three, Nuno introduced Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Konstantinos Mavropanos and the surprisingly-benched El Hadji Malick Diouf in their place.
It would make little material difference. The damage was done, and the die cast.
Nuno bizarely handed Scarles a first Premier League start of 2025/26. Not in his usual left-back role, however, but on the right-hand side. Walker-Peters began on the other flank.
The sight of two full-backs playing on the opposite flank, which surely had many West Ham United supporters rubbing their eyes in disbelief, was strange enough. In hindsight, Nuno may regret removing Mateus Fernandes too. One of the few players who looked a threat to Brentford’s backline, and a rare West Ham player capable of getting on the ball and running with it.
Nuno Espirito Santo explains West Ham United triple sub in Brentford loss
Speaking during a downbeat post-match interview on Sky Sports, Nuno admitted that the decision to make three half-time alterations was to give West Ham greater intensity and togetherness.
To think, debates over baffling team selections appeared to be over when the sensible Nuno replaced Graham Potter a month ago.
“A disappointing evening,” Nuno said. “It was a disappointing performance. It was not good enough.
“I think we had a good spell, the first 15, 20 minutes. After that, we got ourselves in trouble. Brentford were aggressive, physical, set-pieces that we couldn’t manage. Until the end of the first-half, it was difficult.
“It is one of the things that we have to realise, if we win individual duels, we can maybe win the match. But today Brentford were the winners.”
In every sense of the word. Winners of loose balls, and winners of the three points.
“We tried to solve the fragility which we were having just before VAR took a goal off for Brentford,” he adds. “[I thought, with the substitutions] ‘let’s try to close [them] down and stay in the game’.
“It was our main intention.”
Nuno sends message to West Ham fans after latest London Stadium humiliation
Igor Thiago opened the scoring for Brentford just before the break. A tight offside decision denied the in-form Brazilian a second mere moments later. That would not be the only time the Hammers got lucky on a night where a 2-0 defeat realistically should have been something closer to four or five.
As West Ham desperately pushed for an equaliser deep into stoppage time, the Bees broke and finally produced a scoreline which matched their domination. Mathias Jensen lashed a late clincher past a helpless Alphonse Areola.
Make no mistake, Nuno is wasting no time in his pursuit of solutions.
“Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow,” he repeated when asked when the West Ham coaching staff would begin their autopsy of a dreadful evening. “Realising that every day is important, to improve this season, it has to start tomorrow.
“Responsibility, commitment, hard work, and a little bit more conscious effort. We need it. We have to realise.”
Nuno found himself pleading to the West Ham fans on Friday. A pre-planned boycott against the board meant there were plenty of visibly empty seats, not only at full-time but as the game kicked off too.
The manager knows, though, that the best way to get the supporters back onside is to give them something to cheer about.
“I honestly believe that our fans are concerned, more than anything,” said Nuno. “We can feel it. And that feeling passes to the players.
“We had precise situations that, [with the] quality players that we have, shouldn’t [happen]. It is a mix of everything. The pitch, for the players, becomes harder.
“We are the ones who have to pull the fans back together. We need [the fans’ support], but it is up to us. If they see what is on the pitch and they are pleased, they will support us.”
